Oliver Campbell, who was convicted of the murder of Baldev Hoondle in east London in 1991, has had his conviction quashed after 33 years. The three judges ruled on Wednesday that his conviction was “unsafe” due to his learning disabilities. Campbell, who is now in his 50s, says he can now start his life as an innocent man. His purported confession at the time was made up because of the stress of being interviewed.
Campbell was jailed for life over the murder of Mr. Hoondle, who had been shot dead in Hackney during a botched robbery carried out by two men. His lawyers and supporters say his confession at the time simply mirrored what he had watched on BBC’s Crimewatch. Mr. Campbell was released on a life licence in 2002 and lives on his own in Felixstowe, Suffolk, with the assistance of a close group of friends and helpers.
After Campbell was arrested in late 1990, he was interviewed 14 times by detectives as they sought to build a case to prove that the then 19-year-old had pulled the trigger. Officers at Hackney Police Station had recognized that Mr. Campbell had learning difficulties and social services provided an adult to assist him during the first 10 interviews. However, his lawyers believe the purported confession may have been inspired by what he had remembered from the TV, as he tried to end the repeated questioning.
The quashing of the conviction comes 20 years after the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the miscarriages of justice body, rejected his pleas for help and after two inquiries were triggered into how it had handled the case of Andy Malkinson, who was cleared of rape after a 20-year campaign
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